b 1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric shaver and in particular to an electric shaver with both a trimmer blade for rough shaving and a main blade for finish shaving coming in contact with a skin surface at the same time.
2. Related Art
An electric shaver with both a trimmer blade for rough shaving and a main blade for finish shaving, wherein both blades come in contact with a skin surface at the same time, can be used to cut long hairs and short hairs. Long hairs can be cut with the trimmer blade and shorter hairs, which have been shortened with the trimmer blade can be cut with the main blade at the same time, so that body hair including a beard can be shaved rapidly.
However, if both the trimmer and main blades can come in contact with a skin surface at the same time, normally a blade cover is positioned at the top end of the trimmer blade having a blade edge directed in a direction away from the main blade. The blade cover is positioned between the edge of the trimmer blade coming in contact with a skin surface and the main blade coming in contact with a skin surface so that the blade cover also comes in contact with the skin surface. When the electric shaver is moved along a skin surface, the blade cover often lays hair down, resulting in degradation of efficiency in introducing hair into the main blade.
Thus, with an electric shaver disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-144074, a large number of grooves, running in a direction connecting the blade edges of a trimmer blade, and a main blade are made in the top face of a blade cover. The blade cover is positioned between the blade edge of the trimmer blade and the main blade so that hair is passed through the grooves, thereby suppressing occurrence of a state in which hair is laid down.
With the electric shaver having grooves made in the blade cover, hair laid down by the blade cover is decreased and hair that can be introduced into the main blade increases accordingly. However, the grooves in the blade cover provide only hair passages and cannot raise laid hair. Thus, an incomplete shave cannot be realized.